Need some tips for start up

Hello everybody, Very first post here and absolutely a beginner to java.Looking 4 a flying start.This is what i would like to do and if somebody can guide me how i could go step by step would be greatful.Here it goes........... At first, a program should be written that runs on two PCs, at least one of the PCs having Matlab installed. There should be a stand-alone user interface which is connected to the main program via network sockets, i.e. via the internal loopback interface. The user can select files belonging to a project, specify a string giving the Matlab command for the desired function and give the names of the variables he wants to get back. Furthermore, IP-address of the desired remote machine, password and so on have to be input. If all inputs are done and given to the main program, this program connects to the chosen remote entity and sends the files, commands and variables to it. I would be glad if somebody can gimmi a start up. Thanks in advance

Kimi - You'll probably get more help if you write down a design for us to review, and then ask specific questions about any code that you have trouble getting to work. The program that you are describing should be broken into several pieces anyway. You'll want to decide how to split this job up, design and write a piece of it, and then test that piece. Then move to the next piece. (Some would say it would be better to write the test code first, that's how the 'extreme' programmers do it ). One of the BIG benefits of a language like Java is that OO makes it much easier to turn your programs into modular components than older languages like C. At least take a crack at a high level design and show us that! Good luck! -Bert